Registered sex offender charged in visit to daughter's school

Pocomoke City father brought balloons for girl's birthday, police say

Apr. 7, 2014

Written by

Staff Writer

Darryle Lamar Dennis Jr.

PREVIOUS CHARGES

Dennis was convicted in January 2011 of a fourth-degree sex offense in Worcester County. He was arraigned in 2010 on charges of second- and fourth-degree sex offenses, unnatural or perverted practices, and sodomy, but All charges but the fourth-degree sex offense were dropped by prosecutors. In November 2010, he was sentenced to a year in jail.

More

ADVERTISEMENT

SNOW HILL — Authorities have charged a 22-year-old registered sex offender with entering restricted property after he showed up at his daughter’s elementary school to bring her balloons on her birthday.

It happened at about 2 p.m. March 21. Police said Darryle Lamar Dennis Jr. of Pocomoke City came to Snow Hill Elementary School to see his daughter, a kindergarten student, balloons in hand. When his identity was checked by security, it showed his registration as a Tier I sex offender, the lowest of three levels of offenders in Maryland.

Dennis was “confronted” by a vice principal and told to leave the property, according to the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office. Dennis complied with the request to leave. Police said it was the third time Dennis had entered the school during the current school year.

Dennis was arrested on April. He faces three charges of a entering restricted property as a registered sex offender. He was being held without bond at the Worcester County Jail, and is scheduled to face his charges May 6 in Worcester County District Court.

State law prohibits registered sex offenders from entering elementary or secondary school properties, either public or private. The law makes an exception, however, if the registrant’s child is a student, and the school or the superintendent grants written permission for entry. Exceptions to this law also are made when the school is a registrant’s polling place on Election Day.

No such written permission was given for Dennis, according to Barb Witherow, a spokeswoman for Worcester County Public Schools.

Dennis was convicted in January 2011 of a fourth-degree sex offense in Worcester County. Online court documents show Dennis was arraigned in 2010 on charges of second- and fourth-degree sex offenses, unnatural or perverted practices, and sodomy.

All charges but the fourth-degree sex offense were dropped by prosecutors. In November 2010, he was sentenced to a year in jail, and he was released from confinement in July 2011.

After getting past an electronic front door entry system, visitors to Worcester County Public Schools must provide photo identification that can be scanned and checked against a national criminal database, according to Barb Witherow. This is the layer of security that caught Dennis.

“Our screening process is in place to identify visitors who can be in our schools and those who should be turned away,” Witherow said. “If there is a violation, meaning an individual’s criminal background prohibits them from being on school property, we turn to the school security officer to assist in addressing the violation. We appreciate their support in keeping our schools safe.”